Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to facilitating association between a station and a channel-hopping access point (AP).
Description of Related Art
In many telecommunication systems, communication networks are used to exchange messages among several interacting spatially-separated devices. Networks may be classified according to geographic scope, which could be, for example, a metropolitan area, a local area, or a personal area. Such networks may be designated as a wide area network (WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), local area network (LAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), or personal area network (PAN). Networks also differ according to the switching/routing technique used to interconnect the various network nodes and devices (e.g., circuit switching vs. packet switching), the type of physical media employed for transmission (e.g., wired vs. wireless), and the set of communication protocols used (e.g., Internet protocol suite, Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, etc.).
Wireless networks are often preferred when the network elements are mobile and thus have dynamic connectivity needs, or if the network architecture is formed in an ad hoc, rather than fixed, topology. Wireless networks employ intangible physical media in an unguided propagation mode using electromagnetic waves in the radio, microwave, infra-red, optical, or other frequency bands. Wireless networks advantageously facilitate user mobility and rapid field deployment when compared to fixed wired networks. The various advantages provided by wireless networks lead to high levels of wireless network usage. As the usage levels of wireless networks increase, some network resources may become heavily loaded, thereby reducing network performance during the overload conditions. Thus, a need exists for networking strategies and implementations that may increase capacity and/or performance in wireless networks.